Finally Coming Clean
Without a Trace
L.joe went through the rest of the day rethinking whatever he felt. That whole stair scene was a wake up call to him.
If he was being honest with himself, he would get flustered about something everyday for Saejin to pay attention to him like that. And it was pretty scary to him, seeing as this thing never happened to him before. It always happened to Chunji mostly, and he never got embarrassed or anything in front of girls.
L.joe went through the whole of math class thinking about it. When the teacher finally called on him for an answer, he surprised the whole class by not knowing what was going on.
"Something's weird today, hyung." Changjo told Chunji, while they both kept their gaze intently on L.joe. "It's just.. I don't even know." He shook his head.
Chunji shrugged and turned to leave. "If he has something to tell us, he will. He always does. Just give him time."
"Do you think he and Saejin got a bad grade on the project or something?" Changjo wondered.
"You just might be denser than that freak over there." The other boy gave him a look. "What did I do to deserve this? Am I the only one that thinks rationally?" He muttered and they left for class.
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L.joe paced around after school in front of Chunji's locker. Back and forth until it was half an hour after school and everyone else was either home or in some after school activity, leaving the hallways bare.
Chunji came back to the locker with a girl attached to his arm, giggling. "Oppa, you'll make time for me this week, right?"
"Of course, baby." He cooed. If L.joe was paying attention, he would be gagging by now like he usually did. Chunji caught sight of his cousin in front of his locker and he turned to the girl. "Listen babe, I gotta go right now. See you later."
She just winked at him and strutted down the other end of the hall and out the doors.
Chunji walked up to L.joe without any hesitation at all whatsoever. "Hey, what up? Why are you here-?"
"I need to talk to you." He interrupted and grabbed Chunji's shoulders. "It's important."
Looking at him with speculating eyes, Chunji got out of his grasp and put his books in his locker, closed and locked it up again, turning to L.joe. "Oh really? You mind telling me what's going on here-"
"Not now!" He held a finger up to Chunji's lips to shush him up, looking up and down the halls just in case. "Let's go to the ice cream parlor. I'll tell you there."
"Why do you keep whispering? We're the only ones here, you paranoid animal." Chunji scrunched up his face. "Let's hurry up, I have homework."
"But you never do homework."
Chunji snorted and pulled L.joe's arm. "Obviously, now let's go or else you're gonna have to tell Minsoo hyung and you know how oblivious he is."
L.joe gulped and shuddered at the thought. "Let's just.. Go."
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"So what is this about?" Chunji walked through the doors to the gas station. "I thought we were getting ice cream."
"Oh come on, out of all the times to not understand?" L.joe payed for Chunji's soda with frustration. He roughly handed it to him, the other being confused.
Then it dawned on Chunji, and he smiled, wiggling his eyebrows. "So you've finally come to understanding, huh?" He sipped on the straw. "I knew it would happen sooner or later."
"Shut up." L.joe scowled.
They snagged a booth in the back of the ice cream shop, staying silent until Chunji was sipping the remainder of the soda, becoming noisy.
"Why do you gotta be so loud?!" L.joe asked, exasperated.
"Well you're a whole bundle of fun to be with too!" Chunji shot back. He leaned forward on the table and motioned with his hand. "Come on, let it all out."
L.joe blinked, not even knowing how to phrase it or what to say.
"Well? Are you just messing with me or something? Tell me!"
"I just, I don't know how to start." L.joe said honestly, keeping his eyes on the table.
"What, are you a girl? Do I need to give you chocolate for you to answer me or something?" Chunji joked. "Want me to come over there and give you a hug?"
L.joe shot a disgusted face. "Oh gosh no."
"Just tell me if you like her or not, is that such a big deal?!" Chunji groaned, hitting his head on the table. "Then again you bought me a soda, so you must love the poor girl."
L.joe's face turned red. "I-It's not l-l-l-love, dammit!"
"Then what is it exactly?"
He had to face his feelings honestly and openly. It was time to stop being ignorant of them. "I guess I like her." He L.joe rubbed he back of his neck shyly.
Chunji pretended to fangirl, squealing and hitting L.joe from the other side of the table. "Oh my gosh! That's so CUTE!"
Other people in the shop gave them looks, which made L.joe slap him back. "Stop!" He protested.
"Arasso, arasso!" Chunji slumped back, calming himself down. After a minute, he looked up. "So what now? Are you gonna confess to her or something?"
L.joe widened his eyes at the thought. "Should I? Is that the right thing to do?"
"What the hell do mean 'right thing to do'? Of course it is! I wouldn't be surprised if she likes you too, you noob." Chunji shook his head. "Really. I seriously am to rational one in the group."
"What was that?"
"Nothing." Chunji pushed the thought aside as another one popped up. "Hey are you gonna tell the others?"
After thinking, L.joe nodded. "Obviously I'll tell them eventually. But I have something to confess to you."
"Hm?" Chunji waited.
"The girl I was fighting with at the park," he quoted 'fighting'. "Was actually Saejin." This got Chunji's attention as he was taken aback. "I saved her from being taken to jail."
Chunji grimaced. "You're telling me you love a convicted criminal?"
"Geez, you're so hypocritical." L.joe rolled his eyes. He coughed and choked on his drink and defended himself once again. "Y-yah! I don't love her!"
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"So what's up?" Saejin flipped through her magazine while on the phone with Johye.
"I-I was just wondering," Johye softly started. "Since you invited me to that picnic thing, I'm inviting you to a party." She looked through her closet herself.
Saejin grinned. "So you're a party girl, huh? You been keeping secrets?"
Johye inwardly laughed. "My dad's a business man who owns a huge franchise. The house is a subdivision away from mine, so it's close to my house. I'll be bored if I went alone."
"Sounds pretty fun, actually." Saejin nodded her head. "When is it? Do I need to get a dress or something?"
"I have enough here. We could get ready here too." Johye offered.
Saejin felt a bit proud if she could say so. The last couple of days, Johye had been opening up to her and talking more. She didn't seem like she was forcing herself either.
She grinned on the other line. "I'll go, sure! No problem! I'm probably not doing anything anyway if I finish my homework. When is it?"
"Saturday at 6pm. You can just tell me tomorrow if you're available then."
"Sounds good." Saejin wrote it down. "See you tomorrow, Johye!"
"Bye." Johye said, then hung up.
Saejin went back to listening to her music and reading for ten minutes when her bedroom door opened, and her dad came in unannounced. "What are you doing home so early, appa?"
Without saying anything, her mom came in too, tossing a letter on the bed. Saejin glanced at the opened envelope, then back at her parents looking very cheerful. "What's this?"
"Just open it, sweetie." Mrs. Song waved her hand.
Confused, she did as she was told and stared at the thick letter in front of her with open eyes. "Huh? Party?" She blinked at the date and time and checked it with the time Johye gave her earlier. "It's the same!"
"What is?" Mr. Song asked.
"My friend Johye asked me to the same party!" She explained. "Do you mind if I go with her instead?"
"Feel free to." Her dad said. "Just be sure to be there when I introduce you to my employer." He proudly straightened out his jacket.
"You mean, the guy who paid you to catch Teen Top invited you?" Saejin looked at the paper again. "They like you that much? You must be doing a good job then."
"Of course!" Mr. Song nodded. "And they want to meet you since you're the same age as their son. Never know."
"They might hit it off!" Mrs. Song knocked shoulders with her husband.
"Aniyo." Saejin looked away, L.joe' face appearing in her mind for some unknown reason. She shook her head anyway. "I'll meet him, but I'm not promising anything."
Her parents shrugged. "It's gonna be wonderful! Everything's gonna be so fancy! Oh yeobo, just imagine!" Mrs. Song smiled.
"We'll dance the night away!" He hummed a tune and left the room, his wife on his heels.
Saejin bit her lip and started looking up dresses, regardless of Johye's offer. "...why are they so sparkly?"
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really sorry about the long wait!! It's close to finals and I'm studying as hard as I can ><
STRESS
Anyway... Happy reading! :)
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